Omotoso to spend Christmas behind bars as rape trial is postponed

The rape trial of controversial pastor Timothy Omotoso has been postponed pending the outcome of a decision by the Supreme Court of Appeal (SCA) on whether to grant his application for Judge Mandela Makaula to recuse himself.

Omotoso and his two co-accused Lusanda Sulani and Zukiswa Sitho made a brief appearance in the Port Elizabeth High Court.

The case has been postponed to 4 February, 2019.

“All the papers are in order and before the Supreme Court of Appeal. We are simply awaiting the decision of the judges of that court at this stage,” defence advocate Peter Daubermann told the court before proposing the postponement.

Makuala in October previously rejected the defence’s two applications for leave to appeal his ruling that he won’t recuse himself, citing that there were “no reasonable prospects of success”.

Daubermann accused Makuala of “being biased” following the testimony of first witness Cheryl Zondi, and approached the SCA over the decision in November.

Makuala in October previously rejected the defence’s two applications for leave to appeal his ruling that he won’t recuse himself, citing that there were “no reasonable prospects of success”. Makaula had said the grounds for his recusal were “dubious” and “ridiculous”.

“It is ridiculous in the extreme to assume that I had accepted Miss Zondi’s version of events before the accused has testified. I am taken aback by this argument, there is nothing to suggest that I was consoling Miss Zondi.”

Omotoso will now spend his second Christmas behind bars having been denied bail since his arrest in April 2017.

Omotoso and his two co-accused Lusanda Sulani and Zukiswa Sitho face 63 charges and 34 alternative charges, which include rape and sexual assault.